I've been back home in my tiny Louisiana hometown helping my parents move from a place they've lived for forty-one years.
You can imagine how entrenched one gets after such a stretch of time. I grew up on that piece of property--we moved there when I was eight years old. I can only imagine how my parents felt tearing it all apart and uprooting everything, even if they only moved a mile away to my grandmother's home. We didn't hire a moving company, as I would have in Atlanta. Nope. We had pickup trucks (multiple) with trailers attached. We had neighbors and family. We cooked gumbo and picked up fried chicken. We caravanned and made many trips from the old house to the "new" one. People showed up to help without being asked, and it was heartwarming. They worked from early morning until after dark for two solid days, and it makes me tear up at the dedication to helping a fellow neighbor in need for no payment besides a true appreciation. It was back-breaking and there's still a ton of unpacking left to do, but what a testament to small-town life that others would give up their weekend in the service of my family. I'm incredibly humbled.
You can imagine how entrenched one gets after such a stretch of time. I grew up on that piece of property--we moved there when I was eight years old. I can only imagine how my parents felt tearing it all apart and uprooting everything, even if they only moved a mile away to my grandmother's home. We didn't hire a moving company, as I would have in Atlanta. Nope. We had pickup trucks (multiple) with trailers attached. We had neighbors and family. We cooked gumbo and picked up fried chicken. We caravanned and made many trips from the old house to the "new" one. People showed up to help without being asked, and it was heartwarming. They worked from early morning until after dark for two solid days, and it makes me tear up at the dedication to helping a fellow neighbor in need for no payment besides a true appreciation. It was back-breaking and there's still a ton of unpacking left to do, but what a testament to small-town life that others would give up their weekend in the service of my family. I'm incredibly humbled.
I write about such things in my books because it's where I'm from. But I've lived so far away for many years, and my life hardly resembles the one where I grew up. Coming home again was good. It's been hard work, but good. How nice to be reminded of such kindness up close and in person.
I write for the Southern Born line at the Tule Publishing Group, and yes, I am Southern born.
I hope everyone has an amazing week and feels as blessed as I have these past couple days, no matter where you're from.
Susan Sands
Check out my small town Southern romantic women's fiction novels, Again, Alabama, and Love, Alabama, (April 13, 2016)
e-mail snsands@gmail.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/susannsandsauthor
Twitter: @SusanNoelSands
Blog:
Sweet Home Alpharetta at: http://susansands.com
4 comments:
I can't wait to read this book
I hope you like it, Janine!
love the cover on the book! Looks like a good one!
Denise
I love this cover too, Denise. Lee does a fantastic job! Thanks so much!
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